1. Duncan Holling complained to the Independent Press
Standards Organisation that the Barnsley Chronicle had breached Clause 3
(Privacy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice in an article headlined “Mum fuming
after tot ‘escapes’ nursery”, published in print and online on 26 September
2014.

2. The article reported that a three-year-old child had
“escaped” from nursery and returned home alone. It included a photograph of the
child and his mother.

3. The complainant was the child’s father. He said that,
while the child’s mother had agreed for the story and photograph to be
published, he had not given his consent. He considered that this was an
intrusion into his child’s privacy, and into his own private family life, which
was separate from the child’s life with his mother. He also said that the
article was a breach of his parental rights, as he shared responsibility with
his former partner.

4. The newspaper apologised for any upset caused to the
complainant, but did not accept a breach of the Code. The child’s mother had
contacted the newspaper, offering to speak about the incident, and to pose for
the picture. The complainant had contacted the news desk prior to publication,
but it had appeared that his primary concern was that his ex-wife may have been
paid for the story. He had been assured that this was not the case and that,
while he may have objected to the publication of his son’s name, this would not
be withheld as the newspaper had obtained the consent of the child’s mother.
The newspaper was satisfied that, as the primary carer for the child, the
mother was in a position to offer this consent. Nonetheless, it had removed the
story from its website as a gesture of goodwill.

Relevant Code Provisions

5. Clause 3 (Privacy)

i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private
and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital
communications.

ii) Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any
individual’s private life without consent. Account will be taken of the
complainant’s own public disclosures of information.

Clause 6 (Children)

i) Young people should be free to complete their time at
school without unnecessary intrusion.

ii) A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed
on issues involving their own or another child's welfare unless a custodial
parent or similarly responsible adult consents.

Findings of the Committee

6. The complainant had not framed his complaint under Clause
6 (Children). Nonetheless, the terms of Clause 6 were relevant to the
Committee’s consideration of his complaint under Clause 3, because they set out
the special protections afforded by the Code to children, in recognition of
their vulnerable position in society. Clause 6 also sets out the Code’s
requirements regarding when and from whom consent must be sought for
journalistic activity that relates to children. The Committee considered the
complaint against this background.

7. The Committee noted first the nature of the material that
had been published about the complainant’s son: that he had been involved in an
incident, and his mother had been angry, but he had not been harmed and his
mother was happy about the way the nursery had handled the incident. No
material had been published that directly related to the complainant or other members
of the family.

8. The Committee also noted that the story had been placed
in the public domain prior to publication, due to a number of social media
postings, and that the newspaper had been contacted by a number of other
parents who wished to express concern about the incident.

9. Further, in accordance with her right to freedom of
expression, the child’s mother was entitled to speak to the press about her
experience, and to offer comment on a matter that might cause concern among
other parents for the safety of their children.

11. In relation to the publication of the photograph of the
complainant’s son, relevant provisions of the Code were contained within Clause
6 (ii); there was no dispute that the newspaper had obtained the consent of a
custodial parent for the publication of the photograph.